h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Hieroglyphs - A3427904
Author: Gnomon [The Updater] - U151503

I believe this is finished, but I wrote it in a bit of a hurry, so there may be bits that need tidying. I hope it is of general interest and reasonably explanatory. If you're having problems with any of it, by all means let me know.

Rivetting.. I will have to read it again to check for typo's.

However, found one under 'Extending the Solutions' first para >> iSince<< = i

Hi Gnomon, should that first line be there? ie. "The red bits are the ones I am still working on."

I was about to ask that .

Absolutely fascinating! And only one nitpick: does Fourier have a first name? It seems kind of odd to introduce him purely by his surname. (I also remember Fourier transforms from university, although not fondly)

Well done for making such a subject easily readable .

Hello Gnomon, thank you for this, it'll make a great future reference

A18446808 <-- The Rosetta Stone

Been back.. and found just a couple more typos.


Summary of Hieroglyph System

so the language of the monumnets was different = monuments


History

The Egptians used hieroglyphs = Egyptians


Extending the Solution
Anralysis of texts showed = Analysis

Thanks. Fixed those and added a few links.

Well .

You have a literally spelt wrong in the first section

Comprehensive, although I'm not sure about saying heiroglyphics were only Egyptian...but that's semantics. So ignore me.

Next set of Entries then!

The word hieroglyph is normally only used for the Egyptian system, but could be used by analogy for any strange old symbols. The Mayan symbols are normally called "glyphs".

[I'm working on Entry on the properties of the helix.]

Yeah, that's what I mean with reference to some old 'writings' from places like Ur etc. It's of no consequence for this Entry though

But wish you luck with the helix

Great entry, Gnomon, I enjoyed reading it. Just something which I think needs your attention:

Slope = C
Lion = L
Reed = E
Snare = O
Square = P
Vulture = A
Hand = T
Mouth = R

I guess you have missed the ninth symbol? You say the sixth symbol was repeated, so I think it should read
Slope = C
Lion = L
Reed = E
Snare = O
Square = P
Vulture = A
Hand = T
Mouth = R
Vulture = A ?

I didn't think it was worth saying twice that vulture = A. !?

Your decision, to me, it looks incomplete like it is.

Well, that's what Peer Review is for. I've changed it as you suggested.

That's nice, but you just wait until all the others come and tell you to remove it again.
I wish there was more that I could say, except for a minor formal thing like this, but on first read, there wasn't anything that struck me as odd. I think there was a repetition somewhere, I'll have to read it again and take notes, though.

That was great, thorough yet very interesting!

"The Egyptian language, like every other language, changed over time, going through a number of distinct phases. First came Archaic Egyptian. In about 2650 BC, this changed into Old Egyptian, and in 2100 BC into Middle Egyptian."

I wonder if it might be worth saying "*in circa/about/around/approximately* 2100 BC" because otherwise some people might think that it means there was some decision to change it, whereas I assume it was just a natural development.

Not a problem with the entry, but I was wondering if you knew the difference between the terms "hieroglypics" and "hieroglyphs". Are the latter the letters and the former the writng system?

Egyptologists try not to use the word hieroglyphics at all. I'll see can I discover why.

I was just curious, there's no need to go to any trouble!

The writing is hieroglyphic, but the symbols are hieroglyphs. Gnomon explained that to me on my Rosetta Stone PR thread